Hurricane Irene: Pet Travel Update

As Hurricane Irene heads straight for the densely populated eastern coast of the United States, millions of people are preparing for whatever may come. Storm watches have currently been posted in seven northeastern states, and everyone from your local meteorologist to the President has instructed citizens to be smart, safe, and to heed evacuation warnings.

As far as travel is concerned, several airports will obviously be affected this weekend. Here’s what we know (particularly about Continental Airlines’ activities, but other carriers are probably following similar courses of action):

-Dulles (IAD) is scheduled to maintain operations but will probably experience flight delays on Saturday when the storm reaches them. They’re expected to see up to five inches of rain and wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour.

-Other D.C. airports (DCA/BWI) may be more greatly impacted by wind and rain, so expect delays here, too.

-Irene is expected to hit Philadelphia (PHL) on Saturday afternoon/evening and Boston on Sunday, affecting flights at these times.

-Continental Airlines will begin canceling regional jets and commuter flights beginning on Saturday afternoon, and will announce more cancellations as the storm draws near. They’re planning to remove all aircraft from their Newark hub by Saturday evening in order to prevent damage.

-Continental officials state that they should be in “recovery operation” by Monday morning and hope to be operating regularly by noon.

In terms of pet travel, pet flights are being canceled to and from Newark (EWR) on Saturday and to and from cities northeast of that area on Sunday. If you have a pet flying through this region and for some reason they end up being held there longer than anticipated, take comfort in knowing that Continental PetSafe agents are prepared. They have stocked up on food and water and have ensured that enough staff will be on hand to take care of any animals that end up stuck due to the weather.